Talks Between Striking Catholic School Teachers And Philadelphia Archdiocese To Resume

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Negotiations resume tomorrow afternoon between striking high school teachers and the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

More than 700 lay teachers from 17 different Philadelphia Archdiocesan high schools were walking the picket line today after voting Tuesday to go on strike.

Negotiations between the Association of Catholic Teachers and the Philadelphia Archdiocese fell apart Tuesday morning. The Archdiocese says union members walked away from the bargaining table as a stall tactic. Union President Rita Schwartz says the archdiocese gave them a take or leave it proposal, and that’s when members decided to walk away and negotiations stopped.

The two sides have been negotiating for months. Union members say one of the biggest issues keeping the two sides apart is a seniority clause in the archdiocese’s proposal. The union says the archdiocese wants to pick and choose what teachers it wants if there layoffs and ignore seniority and tenure. The archdiocese denies that claim. But they admit wanting to hire more part time teachers with specialized degrees.